MILLERSVILLE, Pa. –
Bridget Bailey (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) nearly threw a no-hitter in a 3-1 game one victory that went eight innings, and both
Jenna Lipowski (Nanticoke, Pa./Greater Nanticoke Area) and
Sarah Harvey (Swanton, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) both had five hits on the day, combining for six in a 9-4 game two win to take the doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Millersville University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division action.
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The Golden Bears (30-12 overall, 9-3 PSAC) won their 30th game of the season, coming after the second victory. It is the third straight full season that KU has won 30 games. KU hit the 30-win mark back on May 6, last season.
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Harvey also finished with four RBIs in the two games and Lipowski had three.
Kate Ostaszewski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) and
Brianna Hughes (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) both recorded three hits, and
Hannah Auvil (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) and
Brianna Stocklin (Deptford, N.J./Deptford Township) each contributed two hits with Auvil adding two RBIs.
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Bailey won her PSAC-leading 16th game this season and is 16-5 on the year. She struck out 13 Marauders, tying a career-high and is a season-best. Bailey leads the conference with 127 strikeouts. She also came on in game two to help give
Amber Brugger (Levittown, Pa./Neshaminy) the victory.
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Kutztown has its final road PSAC doubleheader of the regular season next Friday, April 29, at Shippensburg. Game one is set to begin at 1 p.m.
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Kutztown 3, Millersville 1 (8 inn.)
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Bailey and Alex Schaefer both had their A-games inside the circle. Neither pitcher allowed a run in the first seven innings of the game. Where the runs were hard to come by, hits for Kutztown did not. KU had its first hit, a double by Lipowski, in the second inning and had four of the first seven innings where it had at least one hit and had a runner in scoring position.
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Bailey, however, did not allow a hit until the eighth. It was the furthest she has gone in her career without giving up a hit.
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In the top of the eighth, Harvey helped out her fellow starting pitcher. With one out and Hughes on first base after a single, Harvey ripped a home run to left center field that gave KU a 2-0 lead. It was the second long ball of the season for Harvey.
Kristin Geesey (Bainbridge, Pa./Elizabethtown) gave Kutztown its third run of the inning on a sacrifice fly that brought home
Hannah Reimel (Warminster, Pa./William Tennent).
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Three runs proved to be plenty for Bailey, as, even though the one hit she allowed was a solo home run in the bottom-half of the eighth, she sat down the three other batters she faced to bring home the victory.
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Kutztown 9, Millersville 4
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Kutztown gave Brugger more run support early in game two, scoring six runs in the first four innings, three coming in each of the third and fourth. KU finished with 14 hits.
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After two scoreless innings by both teams to start the game, Stocklin led off the top of the third with a bunt, single, and then later stole second. Ostaszewski brought her home two batters later with a single to right center. Auvil and Harvey then connected on back-to-back RBI doubles to give the Maroon and Gold a 3-0 advantage after three.
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In the fourth, Brugger was hit by a pitch and Ostaszewski came through with a two-out single to put runners at first and third. Lipowski then delivered the blow, connecting on a three-run home run to push the lead to six. It was the sixth long ball on the year for Lipowski, ninth-most in the PSAC, and she now has 35 RBIs, fifth-best in the conference.
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Millersville cut its deficit down by two runs, scoring twice in the bottom of the fourth, and then Brugger helped herself out, doubling to center and sending home Harvey for KU's seventh run in the top of the fifth. Following a Millersville run in the bottom-half of the inning, KU added two more in the sixth as Auvil reached on a fielder's choice and pinch-runner,
Aysha Gibbs (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal) came home, and then Harvey singled home Auvil.
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Brugger threw 5.1 innings, allowing eight hits and struck out seven. Bailey threw the final 1.2 innings and did not give up a hit.
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